


The End of the Line

by the_girl_in_the_flower_dress



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Endgame, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Happy Ending, Headcanon, Infinity War, Love, Old Friends, Sacrifice, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 17:46:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20068039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_girl_in_the_flower_dress/pseuds/the_girl_in_the_flower_dress
Summary: It's over. Thanos has been defeated, but at a cost that weighs heavy on the Avengers' hearts. Now all that is left to do is to replace the Infinity stones in their designated positions in time, but an opportunity for Steve arises. Can he do it? Can he sacrifice his life with his friends for one with the woman who has his heart? There's only one person he feels he can talk to about this; his oldest friend, Bucky Barnes.





	The End of the Line

**Author's Note:**

> This ending has caused so much debate, but through this fic, you can see my thoughts and how I feel the ending was right and what Steve deserved after so much sacrifice. I don't agree with the way Marvel have just erased Daniel Sousa and his relatioship with Peggy but at the same time, I'm happy for Steve.

“Hey, Buck, you got a minute?”

Steve lifted his head from his hands as he heard his best friend’s footsteps and spoke up.

“Yeah, sure.” Bucky pulled up a chair, his metal arm swinging it around effortlessly. He sat astride it back-to-front, crossing his arms over the back of the chair. His voice softened. “How are you doing?”

“You know me, I’m always ok.” The words sounded false in his heavy voice.

“Yeah, well, me too.” Bucky replied in understanding. Steve shared a grim smile with him. “I’m sorry, pal, I know what you’ve lost.”

“Yeah… It’s just… I’ve got something on my mind, and- I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Bucky nodded, indicating that he was listening.

“Ever since I volunteered to put the stones back, my mind has kept coming back to the same thing, and I don’t know what to do. And I don’t have much time to decide.”

“Anything I can do to help?” Bucky said.

“I don’t know, but a friendly face to hear my thoughts would be nice… only- oh, god, Buck, this is so hard.” Steve rubbed a hand across his eyes, annoyed at the prickling of tears he felt already. He lifted his eyes to Bucky’s. “I could gain one thing but lose everything else.”

Bucky’s eyes bore straight back at his.

“But if the one thing means so much to you, would it matter?”

“God, yes.” Steve sighed in anguish. “I’d be giving up so much.”

“Just to be clear, you’re talking about using the quantum realm to spend your life with the woman you love?”

Steve cracked a smile.

“Am I that obvious?”

“I can read you like a book, Steve,” Bucky said, slapping him affectionately on the back, “nothing’s changed. Besides, you’ve been looking at that photo even more often than usual. I can tell what’s running through her head.”

Bucky watched Steve as his friend’s expression turned from sheepishness to torment.

“I just don’t know what’s right. I have this opportunity staring me in the face, and it’s eating away at me night and day. If I did it, I’d be abandoning you all, and what if the Avengers are needed again? And besides, what if Peggy doesn’t want me? Is it fair to erase the rest of her life? I’m sure she was happy and moved on…”

Bucky frowned.

“I’ve had a bit of time to think about it too, Steve. You sacrificed a life with Peggy to save countless others, and that’s all you’ve done since you came out of the ice. You’ve sacrificed _everything_, time and time again, and you’ve lost so much. Honestly? I think you’ve earned the right to be selfish.” Bucky’s earnest face melted into a sad smile. “Look at me, persuading my closest friend to leave me.”

“This is so hard… In gaining Peggy I’d be losing you. I’m throwing away the chance to spend more time with my best friend, I mean, how much time have we spent together since the old days?”

“Not a lot... But- the old days are gone, Steve, as much as that hurts. We can’t pretend we’re still living in the 1940s, in the days when you were half my size.” They both grinned at the memory. “We’ve changed too much.”

“I feel like I’m slipping away.” Steve confessed. “I keep losing myself and everyone around me, and I can’t stop thinking about the past.”

“Then here’s your chance.” Bucky said. Steve was quiet for a moment.

“I love her so much.” Steve admitted, thinking of Peggy. “I’ve never stopped loving her, as much as I tried.”

“I know.” Bucky replied quietly. “And I don’t think you have to worry about Peggy loving you back. I know women,” he raised an eyebrow, “or I used to; and I don’t think even a blind man could mistake those feelings for you.”

“I just feel so torn up about leaving you. I might never see you again Bucky. Can I really abandon the team after all we’ve been through?”

Bucky thought over his words for a moment.

“We’ve just fought the fight of our lives- you survivors of the snap even more so- and the Avengers have fulfilled their duty 1000x over. I think you’re ready to take a step back, am I right?” He finished carefully. “Even if you did stay, would you want to take up the shield again? Multiple times?”

Steve realised he was right.

“No, I don’t want that anymore, not after…” He shook his head. “When did you get so goddamn smart?!”

Bucky feigned modesty.

“Well, my friend, I am 106 years old. Everyone says the oldest men are the wisest.”

“Damn right, Buck.” Steve laughed, but his grin soon faded. “I’m just so tired, Bucky, so goddamn tired.”

“I know.”

Bucky’s eyes drifted over Steve’s face, still battered and bruised from the battle. His knuckles were cracked and raw, and there were countless semi-healed scratches over his face and exposed skin, even more obvious because of the whiteness of his shirt. But what really tore at Bucky were Steve’s eyes. The light had gone out from them. His previous sparkle of humour and curiosity had faded, the deep green and blue now looking more like a washed-out grey, a painting left exposed to the cruelty of nature for too long. He looked older, aged, somehow.

They sat in silence for several long moments.

“I think you should do it.” Bucky said, his heart aching as he spoke the words. “If only to know that you’re happy. You deserve a rest, and a _life_\- one that you’ve chosen.”

Tears began to well in Bucky’s eyes. He rubbed them self-consciously, his metal fingers cool against his warm skin.

“Hey.” Steve said softly. “You know if I could stay right here I would; I just don’t think I could ever be happy. After losing Nat, and Tony, and the weight of losing Peggy and you all at once, I just can’t do this anymore.” Steve could barely even say their names without feeling a stab of grief in his chest.

“I understand, bud, I really do.”

“…Will you be ok?” Steve asked, almost shamefully.

“Sure I will.” Bucky said lightly. “I’ve got Sam to annoy, Wakanda to visit, maybe I’ll take a vacation of my own somewhere, take the arm off for a bit; retire, you know?”

“Good, you do that, Buck. And about Sam, look out for him, won’t you? He’s going to have a pretty big role to take on.”

Bucky looked up sharply.

“You mean?”

“Yeah, he’s the right man for the job.”

“I agree. Not that it’ll be the same.”

“No, but it’s time for a new generation of heroes to take over. I’m too old and too tired, and it’s just not the same anymore. I’m ready for something new.”

“Go get your girl, cap.”

Bucky stood up from his chair and pulled Steve into a tight hug, wincing himself as he remembered Steve’s multiple broken ribs. Bucky’s vision blurred with hot tears as he pressed his face into Steve’s shoulder, feeling his friend choke back a sob.

“I’m gonna miss you so much.” Steve said.

“Me too.” Bucky said. “But we had years together, we just gotta remember that. Hold onto those memories.”

“I always will. You know that.”

“Yeah.”

They stepped back and wiped their faces, suddenly laughing at them themselves.

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Oh, I’m pissed.” Bucky said jokingly. “No really, Steve, I’m with you til-”

“-the end of the line.” They both finished.

“We should probably stop saying that.” Steve said with a laugh.

“Yeah, well, I don’t care.” Bucky replied. “I think we’re allowed to be sentimental, after everything we’ve been through together.”

“Damn right.”

Their grins turned nostalgic, and reality set in.

“Now that I’ve made my decision, I should probably go soon. Before I change my mind.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“God, I hope this works.”

“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.” Bucky replied, patting Steve’s arm. “You and Peggy deserve to be happy. Besides, you’re long overdue for that dance. I wouldn’t leave a girl like Peggy waiting any longer.”

“Thanks, Buck. For everything.”

“Back at you, Steve.”

Bucky held out his hand- his real hand- and Steve grasped it, enclosing Bucky’s hand in both of his own.

“I’ll see you in a minute.” Steve said. “Just a couple things I gotta do.”

Bucky nodded and left, an exhausted, shuddering sigh rattling through his body as he closed the door. He would miss Steve more than he would ever admit to anyone else, but he couldn’t resent him for his decision- the decision that he had nudged him to make. As they’d both said, they deserved to choose their paths for once.

\-------------

“Peggy?”

For a moment, Steve was sure he had spoken too softly, that the music drifting from the kitchen would have muffled his voice. But then he heard a gasp, followed by something shattering on the floor, and the desperate clicking of heels darting to the hall. As she appeared in front of him, her face collapsing with a sob, then breaking into a smile, as they ran into each other’s arms and he held her tight to his chest, he knew without a doubt that he had made the right choice.


End file.
